Repeating attachment for phonographs.



No. 810,018. PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

E. L. AIKEN.

REPEA'IING ATTACHMENT FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24. 1905. I

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 810,018. PATENTED JAN.16, 1906.

E. L. AIKEN. BEPEATING ATTACHMENT FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2-1, 1905.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2 RRWW I IV V 18 57440214 001 @z/ aha fil 2 *6 M No. 810,018. PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

E. L. AIKEN.

REPEATINGATTAGHMENT FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1905.

3 SHEBTSSHEET 3.

f A L '7 lglventor mvfypaw 4 UNITED STATES PATENT osFroE.

- EDWARD L. AIKEN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO NEW JERSEY PATENT COMPANY, OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, A COR- PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

REPEATING ATTACHMENT FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

Application filed June 24, 1905. Serial No. 266,883.

T (LZZ whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, EDWARD L. AIKEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of v New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Repeating Attachments for Phonographs, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to devices which are applied to phonographs and other talkingmachines by means of which the sound-box may be automatically raised at any desired point of the record and returned to any other desired point, whereupon the sound-box is 5 with the record, so that the same selection can be played over and over again without any attention on the part of the operator.

Attachments of this general character are well known in the art.

My present invention has for its object the provision of such an attachment which will be simple in construction, cheap to manufacture, reliable in operation, and which will effect the elevation and depression of the sound-box without sudden or abrupt movements.

To this end my invention consists in the features hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Reference is hereby made to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view showing my invention in its preferred form applied to a phonograph, of which only the adjacent parts are shown. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig; 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1 and shows the parts in the positions assumed during the return movement of the sound-box. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the same parts in the positions assumed during the forward travel of the sound-box. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a section on line 6 6 of Fig-4. Fig. 7 is a section on line 7 7 of Figs. 4 and 9. Fig. 8 is a section on line 8 8 of'Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 and showing the parts in the positions which are assumed when the sound box is in its lowered or operative position. Figs. 10 and 11 are diagrammatic views illustrating a modification. Figs. 12 and 13 are similar views of a second modification. Figs. 14 and 15 are similar views of a third modification.

caused to descend into operative engagement In all the views corresponding parts are indicated by the same reference characters.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, a is the main shaft of a phonograph formed with the usual feed-screw, b the back rod, 0 the sleeve, to which is secured the spring-arm cl, which carries at its forward end the feed-nut e, which engages with the feed-screw during the forward movement of the sound-boxc'arrier, all of which parts are well known and form no part of my invention.

Driven from the feed screw shaft a by means of gears 1 and 2 is a return-screw shaft 3, journaled in bearings 4 4, carried by any suitable support 5, secured to the body of the phonograph. The shaft 3 is formed with a screw 6 of a coarse pitch, whereby the soundbox will be rapidly returned to its inital position.

The device for effecting the elevation of the sound-box is capable of numerous modifications; but all forms of the invention which are illustrated make use of the following instrumentalities. A cam or disk 7 is mounted on the returnscrew, preferably on a sleeve 8, which is held against rotation by an arm 9 projecting forwardly therefrom and having a notch at its forward end for engagement with a guide 10, formed integral with the plate 11, secured to the base 5. This sleeve is formed with a bearing 12, the axis of which is inclined with respect to the axis of the shaft 3, and the cam 7 is rotatable on said bearing, being held between the shoulder 12 and the ring 12 secured to the sleeve 8. The sleeve 0 of the sound-box carriage is provided with a forwardly-extending arm 13, whose forward end is notched, as shown at 14, to receive the upper portion of the cam 7. The cam 7 is fed along longitudinally of the return-screw by the sound-box carriage during its forward or operative movement, remaining during this time in a fixed position as regards rotation. Means are provided for giving the cam a halfturn at the end of its forward travel to effect the raising of the sound-box carrier, the disengagement of the feed-nut from the feedwith the return-screw. The cam then supports the carriage and returns it to its initial position, remaining during this time without rotation. Additional means are provided at the end of the rearward travel of the cam screw, and the engagement of suitable means I each other.

0 diately upon the return of the cam 7.

60 will move toward the left.

for giving it a half-turn to restore the partsto their original positions. The cam 7 is provided with a pin or projection 15, passing through the same and projecting from both faces thereof. The object of this pin is to engage a rotatingpin, tooth, or projection at ,each end of its travel, so that the cam-may be given a half-turn, at the end of which time the projections pass out of engagement with The rotating projection which engages the pin at the end of its forward travel may be a pin 17, carried by a disk 18, which disk is fixed to the screw 6, being adjustable longitudinally thereof and held in I 5 any desired position by means of a set-screw 19, which bears against a block 20, of soft metal, and presses the same against the surface of the screw, Fig. 5. The rotating member for engaging the pin 15 at the end of its rearward travel may be a toothed or notched wheel 21, adjustable along the screw 6 and held in any suitable position by any appropriate means, such as those shown in connection with the disk 18. If desired, a disk carrying a single pin may be substituted for the wheel 21 but in such case care must be taken that the pin be so situated with respect to the thread of the screw 6 that the pin will be in proper position for striking the pin 15 imme- The pitch of the return-screw is so great as to carry the parts along about a quarter of an inch every revolution, and if the projection rotating with the screw should not be in the 3 5 proper location to engage the pin 15 as soon as it reaches the plane of rotation the face of the cam will be carried against the end of the projection and the mechanism will be inoperative. In order to provide against such an occurrence, it is desirable to use a disk carrying several pins, or preferably the wheel shown, which has twenty-five teeth, so that each tooth corresponds to one one-hundredth of an inch rearward travel of the cam 7, which 5 is the relation existing between the pin 17 and the cam in its forward travel.

The features so far described are common to all the forms shown. The various forms illustrated differ in the arrangements of cam 7 and pin 15 and bearing 12, which I will now refer to.

It is obvious that on account of the inclination of the aXis of the cam 7 its rotation will cause the pin 15 to travel both longitudinally and transversely with respect to the aXis of the return-shaft 3. During one hundred and eighty degrees of rotation the pin will move toward the right, Figs. ,1 and 2, and for the remaining one hundred, and eighty degrees it The pin 15 is so placed that during the forward travel of the cam the pin is in its medial position as regards longitudinal movement. As soon as the pin 15 comes in contact with the pin 17 it will be moved thereby, and the extent of overlap of the two pins will on account of the inclination of the cam 7 increase for a quarter of a turn and will then decrease until the pins entirely separate, which will be as many degrees as the overlap increases, and when the path of the pin 15 is concentric to the shaft 3, as in Figs. 14and 15, there will be required a slight additional turning, due to the amount of initial overlap which the pins had when they came into contact and which may be anything less than the pitch of the feedscrew, usually one one-hundredth of an inch. If the pin 15 during the lifting operation is carried beyond its medial position, it may during the lowering operation contact with the tooth of the wheel 21 for less than one hundred and eighty degrees. Then the pin 15 on its next forward trip may be engaged by the pin 17 sooner than before and may on this account be carried around farther than before, thus introducing an irregularity as to the positions at which the pin 15 is engaged and disengaged by the pin 17 and wheel 21. In order to definitely fix the points at which these projections 17 and 21 will disengage the pin 15, I prefer to make the bearing 12, upon which the cam 7 is journaled, eccentric with respect to the shaft 3, as shown in Figs. 1 to 9, instead of concentric, as illustrated in Figs. 14 and 15. By so forming the bearing 12 and by so locating the pin 15 that it is in its medial position during its forward travel and by so placing the pin 17 that in its rotation it will encounter the pin 15, as indicated in Fig. 9, it will be obvious that since the path of the pin 17 is a circle whose center is the center of the shaft 3 and since the path of the pin 15 is a circle whose center is the center of the bearing 12 when the pins 15 and 17 arrive at the positions 15" and 17 (indicated by the dotted lines) the pins will be out of contact. The pin 15 has a radial movement with respect to the pin 17, which carries it entirely clear of the same, and by properly proportioning the width or thickness of the pins with respect to the amount of eccentricity of the bearing 12 the point of clearance of the pins may be readily made such as to leave the cam 7 in the desired position. Obviously the amountof radial travel of the pins with respect to each other is twice the distance between the centers of the bearing 12 and the shaft 3, and the thickness of the pins should be such that this travel carries them out of engagement. The movement of the cam7 just referred to brings it into the position shown in Figs. 8, 3, and 5. In this po sition the feed-nut is out of engagement with the feed-screw, and the cam 7 by an arrangement which I will now describe will be in engagement with the return screw 6. This may be accomplished in several ways. For

interior groove 22 and the bearing 12 with a corresponding exterior groove 23. Situated within the said grooves is a spring 24, having one end bent, as at 25, and held in the body of the cam 7 and having the other end 26 formed with a projection which is adapted to engage the thread of the screw 6. The bot tom of the groove 23 is cut out for a short distance to form an opening 27, through which the projection 26 may pass when in the position shown in Fig. 8, and thereby engage the thread of the screw 6. The face of the proj ection 26 is preferably made sloping, as shown, so that when the cam 7 is turned from the position of Fig. 8 the projection 26 will easily ride up the edge of the opening 27 and follow the groove 23 around to the position of Fig. 9. When the cam 7 is in the position of Fig. 8, the returnscrew causes it to travel and carry the soundbox carriage rapidly to its rear or initial position. The lowering operation is exactly similar to the lifting operation previously described. The pin- 15 being in the position shown in Fig. 8 will be engaged by one of the teeth of the wheel 21 and will be carried around to the position 15", (indicated in dotted lines in the figure,) Where on account of the eccentricity of its path with respect to the path of the engaging tooth it will be disengaged therefrom. This movement brings the cam 7 into the position of Figs. 4, 6, and 9, and the sound-box will then be in operative position, the feed-nut in engagement with the feed-screw, and the operations described will be repeated.

It is not necessary that the center of the bearing 12 be above the center of the shaft 3, as in Figs. 8 and 9, as it may be situated at any angle thereto. Thus in Figs. 12 and 13 the center of the bearing 12 is below the center of the shaft 3. In this case the opening 27 in the bottom of the groove 23 will be at the top of the bearing and the point of the tooth carried by the cam 7 for engaging the thread of the screw 6 will be situated at that part of the cam where the metal is the deepest, and it will therefore be feasible to use for this purpose a small plunger or pawl 28, seated in a cavity 29 and pressed by a small spiral spring 30. This form is in other respects similar to the form shown in Figs. '8 and 9.

In case the center of the bearing 12 is situated laterally with respect to the center of the shaft 3, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the cam 7 will perform a lifting and lowering operation as before. The pin 15, however, should be located so as to be engaged by the pin 17 when in the position indicated in full lines,Fig. 11, since the pins will become disenaged when they arrive at the positions 15 and 17. It should be noted that in this constructon in order that the pin 15 may be in its medial position at the time it is engaged by the pin 17 the inclination of the bearing 12 and cam 7 must be such as would be obtained by turning the sleeve 8 ninety degrees toward the right from Figs. 8 and 9.

It will be observed that it is only by reason of the inclination of the cam 7 with respect to the shaft 3 that I am able to obtain a support for the sleeve 8 to hold the same against rotation. The pin 15 is of such length as to pass to the left of the projection 9, Fig. 1, by which the sleeve 8 is held, and the pin 17 will clear the projection 9 and contact with the pin 15 at the proper time.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In areturn attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, and means for elevating said sound-box com prising a sleeve traveling on said return-screw shaft, and a cam rotatably mounted on said sleeve, substantially as set forth.

2. In areturn attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, and means for elevating said sound-box comprising a sleeve traveling on said returnscrew shaft and a cam rotatably mounted on said sleeve on a bearing whose axis is inclined to the axis of said return-screw shaft, substantially as set forth.

3. In areturn attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, andmeans for elevating said sound-box comprising a sleeve traveling on said returnscrew shaft and a cam rotatably mounted on said sleeve on a bearing eccentric to the axis of said return-screw shaft, substantially as set forth.

4. In a return attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft and means for elevating said sound-box comprising a sleeve traveling on said returnscrew shaft and a cam rotatably mounted on said sleeve on a bearing whose axis is inclined and eccentric to the axis of said return-screw shaft, substantially as set forth.

5. In areturn attachment for phonographs andallied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling soundbox and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, and means for elevating said sound-box comprising a sleeve traveling on said returnscrew shaft, a cam rotatably mounted on said sleeve, and means for holding said sleeve against rotation, substantially as set forth.

6. In a return attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, and means for elevating said sound-box comprising a sleeve traveling on said returnscrew shaft, a cam rotatively mounted on said sleeve on a bearing whose aXis is inclined to the aXis of said return-screw shaft, and means for holding said sleeve against rotation, substantially as set forth.

7. In a return attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, and a lifting-cam traveling back and forth on the return-screw, and means for operating said cam, substantially as set forth.

8. In a return attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft and a lifting-cam traveling back and forth on the return-screw, said cam being provided with means for engaging the thread of the return-screw, substantially as set forth.

9. In a return attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively movin the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, a lifting-cam, a sleeve traveling back and forth on the return-screw shaft and rotatably supporting said cam, said sleeve being apertured, and means rotatable with the cam for engaging the thread of the return-screw through said aperture, substantially as set forth.

10. In areturn attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, a lifting-cam traveling back and forth on the return-screw, and means rotating with said shaft for operating said cam at the end of its forward travel, substantially as set forth.

1 1. In a return attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination of a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, a lift-' ing-cam traveling back and forth on the return-screw shaft, and means rotating with and adjustable on said shaft for operating said cam at the end of its forward travel, substanti ally as set forth.

12. In areturn attachment for phonographs and allied talking-machines, the combination with a traveling sound-box and means for progressively movin the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, a

lifting-cam'traveling back and forth on the return-screw shaft and means rotating with said shaft for operating said cam at the end of its rearward travel, substantially as set forth.

1 3. In a return attachment for phonographs 1 and allied talking-machines, the combination of a traveling sound-box and means for progressively moving the same when in its operative position, of a return-screw shaft, a lifting-cam traveling back and forth on the re- EDWARD L. AIKEN.

I Witnesses:

DELOS HOLDEN, ANNA R. KLEHM. 

